The Meters - Now Playing

Funk doesn't get much more New Orleans than The Meters, and Now Playing distils their loose, elastic groove into ten essential cuts on a single LP.

Art Neville on keys, Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter Jr. on bass and Zigaboo Modeliste on drums built their reputation as a studio band for producer Allen Toussaint, backing a long line of artists while quietly recording a catalogue of their own. Their sound was earthier than the big-city funk of the era, built on interlocking parts and the art of leaving space.

The early instrumentals still sound radical. "Cissy Strut" and "Look-Ka Py Py" turn a handful of notes into a masterclass in syncopation, with Modeliste's drumming hopping around the beat like it owns the place, while Porter and Nocentelli lock together like gears. Later the band found their voices, and "Hey Pocky A-Way" and "Fire on the Bayou" carry the street-parade spirit of Mardi Gras into the studio.

Those grooves went on to be sampled and studied by generations of hip-hop producers, and hearing them back to back on one record makes it obvious why.

It works as a first step into a deep catalogue that rewards digging, and it keeps the needle firmly in the pocket from the first side to the last.